Reborn in 1981, the first to get rich start with dairy cows.

Chapter 157 Popsicle Market Research

Hu Weidong acted quickly; the internal training meeting was scheduled for the day after the others had submitted their feedback.

"Old Hu, not bad, you're really fast!" Shen Dong exclaimed.

Hu Weidong sat facing him, a bitter smile on his face. "Sigh, you only realize how far behind our technology is when you go out and see for yourself. Time waits for no one!"

"Is it really that serious?" Shen Dong said with a chuckle.

"My dear Director Shen, you've been abroad before, haven't you? I don't believe you can't see the difference. Take us for example, spitting and smoking in the workshop, not to mention being late and lazy in the past. Look at the Shanghai Machinery Factory, their staff are clean and tidy, their factory area is bright and clean. You don't even dare to step on it. How can you compare?"

Hu Weidong became agitated and continued, "Look at the other small factories in the communes. We can't talk about production lines, but surely you can manage the morale, right? Isn't it still a mess?"

"Old Hu, Old Hu, don't get agitated. This isn't something that can be resolved overnight. All we can do is raise our standards and influence others with our actions."

"Sigh, this road is going to be so long!"

Shen Dong took a sip of water and said with a smile, "Our country also took many years to slowly emerge from this situation. The long time is not the problem; what is worrying is that no change will occur even after a long time."

He stood up, walked to the window, and watched the employees walk towards the conference room in twos and threes. He said quietly, "We are still young and have plenty of time. As long as we don't lose confidence, nothing can defeat us."

Go to the training first, we'll talk about it later.

Inside the meeting room, everyone was still whispering and discussing the contents of their trip to Shanghai. Most of them hadn't even been to many other places, making them even more interested in the trip to Shanghai.

"I see you guys are having a good chat. I just discussed it with Lao Hu, and we're thinking about whether we can organize another exchange in Shanghai later," Shen Dong said, looking at Hu Weidong.

Hu Weidong immediately understood and chimed in, "Yes, the factory manager is very satisfied with this trip, so he's decided to determine the list based on everyone's performance next time and do it again. What do you all say?"

"Great!" Everyone applauded excitedly.

"Hmph, I'll definitely be there next time!"

"Come on, look at that idiot, he's always the first to arrive and the last to leave, he does all sorts of work. Can you be as capable as him?"

"Me... count him in, and there are other spots available, so I can get one too!"

As soon as Hu Weidong finished making the announcement, the people below started speculating about the number of spots again.

Seeing that it was almost time, Hu Weidong began.

The trip to Shanghai was not complicated; the core was learning in the workshop. Hu Weidong selected some topics to talk about, and gave several employees the opportunity to come up on stage and demonstrate their skills.

Shen Dong listened from below, nodding occasionally.

As the saying goes, "Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles," and this is truly true. The young men who went on stage may have been a bit hesitant at first, but seeing how cooperative the audience was and how they frequently asked questions, their enthusiasm grew, and they spoke faster and more clearly.

It seems that these people cherish this opportunity and are diligently observing and learning.

Although he had made grand promises before, Shen Dong was still pleased to see their performance, at least there were successors.

In addition to what was obvious, Hu Weidong then talked to everyone about the daily production and maintenance processes of the machinery factory, which was the second item on the training session.

He combined and supplemented the processes of the dairy factory to form a new set of rules, procedures and systems, and prepared to conduct a thorough training session today.

"We, the team leaders, discussed this process and found it to be quite suitable for us. Everyone should learn and implement it carefully. We will also conduct strict assessments later, and it will serve as the standard for our future trips to Shanghai."

Hearing Hu Weidong say this, everyone took it even more seriously.

The process is not complicated, but it is more refined.

Previously, the group was simply divided into two groups, with Hu Weidong and Li Chenfeng as group leaders, and tasks were assigned to individuals. However, with the expansion of the team, this crude allocation method is no longer suitable, so he made some adjustments.

"From now on, we will no longer be the first or second group, but will become the filling group, sterilization group, and logistics group. The work content will remain the same as before, but we will become small team models. The specific groupings and personnel will be posted after the meeting."

Each person is only responsible for their group; individual performance determines the group ranking, and the group ranking determines the year-end awards and bonuses.

Last year's selection process is still fresh in our minds; everyone was drooling over the eye-catching prizes.

However, more than half of the employees on site were new employees who joined the factory after the Lunar New Year, and they started asking the older employees about their bonuses from last year.

When they learned that they had received watches and sewing machines last year, everyone's eyes widened in surprise. After learning that everyone would receive rice, pork, and bonuses, they all started rubbing their hands together, ready to compete for this year's Outstanding Employee award.

As the training session drew to a close, Shen Dong left and went to the refrigeration workshop to find Wu Qingfeng.

"Old Wu, the weather's going to get warmer soon, how's our ice storage going?"

Because of the time constraints, we could only dig a cellar to collect small ice blocks, so we didn't make a lot.

Wu Qingfeng frowned and replied, "The situation is not good. Smaller ones melt, and larger ones are difficult for us to handle."

Shen Dong thought for a moment and realized that there were many limitations at the moment and no particularly good solutions, so he said, "Then how about this, once the refrigeration machine from the agricultural machinery station arrives, we'll make some crushed ice every night and put it in an insulated box, and then bring it along when we supply popsicles to the grocery store."

This way, they can store the popsicles for a longer period, reducing waste.

Wu Qingfeng had already thought about all of this, and nodded in agreement.

"By the way, how are the popsicle sales lately? Summer's almost here, what are your plans?"

Wu Qingfeng found a place to sit down and recounted his research work over the past few days.

"These days, we've been visiting several communes around here and discovered that we've overlooked something: salted soda."

""

"Go on!"

"These are just popsicles made from pure salt and water. They're cheap, and they replenish salt and water, so they're very popular!"

Shen Dong nodded thoughtfully.

He wasn't very familiar with the current popsicle market; he just made the plan based on his gut feeling and the children's needs.

"So, are you starting to work on this?"

Wu Qingfeng nodded and affirmed, "Yes, a few of us bought some from the county food factory to try first, but the taste was too ordinary. These past few days we've made some attempts, roughly figured out a ratio, and tried selling it. It seems alright."

"7

"Okay, it's good that you know what's going on. I can't keep an eye on the popsicles all the time, so you'll have to take charge."

"7

Giving full play to initiative has always been emphasized by Shen Dong.

He hopes to encourage people to be more proactive in this not-so-proactive era.

The key is that he is willing to relinquish power, giving everyone more opportunities to showcase their abilities.

It seems that Wu Qingfeng has gotten into the swing of things.